Stock market gains 126 points in mixed trading

Stock market gains 126 points in mixed trading

KARACHI: The stock market gained 126 points on Friday amid mixed trading sessions. The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 42,633 points as against 42,507 points showing an increase of 126 points (+0.3 percent DoD).

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market recovered some losses made earlier during the week and closed the session +126.08 points.

During the session, the index swayed from -256 points to +200 points.

Cement sector gained both in volume and value, with KOHC hitting upper circuit and healthy buying activity observed in Cement heavy weights including LUCK, DGKC and MLCF.

E&P sector also showed some signs of recovery with PPL crossing recent highs.

Similarly, positive move was observed in Refineries, which saw ATRL and NRL closing at upper circuits. Cement Sector led the volumes with 36.5 million shares, followed by Food (18.8 million) and Banks (18.7 million).

Among scrips, MLCF registered trading volume of 17.3 million shares, followed by ASC (14 million) and HASCOL (13.9 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+41 points), E&P (+29 points), Power (+19 points), Textile (+18 points) and Banks (+15 points).

Volumes declined back from 230.8 million shares to 173.0 million shares (-25 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 31 percent to reach US$ 43.5 million as against US$ 63.2 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, ASCR, HASCOL, UNITY and AVN, which formed 36 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+42 points), BAHL (+17 points), LUCK (+16 points), HUBC (+15 points) and MCB (+15 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include POL (-21 points), HBL (-15 points), SHFA (-12 points), BAFL (-9 points), and PMPK (-8 points).